WBEZ | oscar neimeyerhttp://www.wbez.org/tags/oscar-neimeyer
Latest from WBEZ Chicago Public RadioenArchitect Oscar Niemeyer's last work? It just might be the shoeshttp://www.wbez.org/blogs/lee-bey/2012-12/architect-oscar-niemeyers-last-work-it-just-might-be-shoes-104495
<p><div class="image-insert-image "><img alt="" class="image-original_image" src="http://www.wbez.org/system/files/styles/original_image/llo/insert-images/dezeen_The-Oscar-Niemeyer-Collection-for-Converse_5.jpg" title="" /></div><div class="image-insert-image ">The last work of famed modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer who <a href="http://www.wbez.org/blogs/lee-bey/2012-12/oscar-niemeyer-creator-brasilias-iconic-buildings-dies-104-104226">died two weeks ago</a> at age 104 might not be a building, but a line of shoes he designed for Converse.</div><div class="image-insert-image ">&nbsp;</div><div class="image-insert-image ">Niemeyer, best known for the visually-striking buildings of the Brazilian capital city of Brasilia, created a line of shoes that was released about six weeks before the architect&#39;s death &mdash; and went relatively unnoticed in the United States. The shoes feature words from a Niemeyer poem, written in Portuguese, in which he famously said his architecture was inspired by Brazil&#39;s mountains, bending rivers and curvy women.</div><div class="image-insert-image ">&nbsp;</div><div class="image-insert-image ">Converse released the line on October 23rd in celebration of its 104th year in business. In a news release, the company said the five new shoes were designed &quot;with a nod to Niemeyer&rsquo;s legendary curve and his creative, rebellious point of view.&quot;</div><div class="image-insert-image "><div class="image-insert-image "><img alt="" class="image-original_image" src="http://www.wbez.org/system/files/styles/original_image/llo/insert-images/oscar-niemeyer-para-converse_11.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 350px;" title="" /></div></div><div class="image-insert-image ">&nbsp;</div><div class="image-insert-image ">It might sound a bit like naked capitalism &mdash; like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMyMNiIG-9E">when Halston designed clothes for J.C. Penny</a>&nbsp;&mdash; but it likely wasn&#39;t from Niemeyer&#39;s point of view, at least. The Brazilian-born architect, who was once president of the country&#39;s communist party, created his Converse chukka boot (third from the left in the above photo) as homage to an unbuilt anti-torture monument he designed in Rio de Janeiro. Other shoes in the line also carry political statements, according to Converse.</div><div class="image-insert-image ">&nbsp;</div><div class="image-insert-image ">Niemeyer also desiged a line of jewelry for H. Stern a few years ago:</div><div class="image-insert-image ">&nbsp;</div><div class="image-insert-image " style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="338" scrolling="no" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z573ujSTnhU" width="601"></iframe></div><div class="image-insert-image ">&nbsp;</div><div class="image-insert-image ">The Converse shoes are only available in Brazil &mdash; for now at least. They cost the equivalent of $85 to $135.</div><div class="image-insert-image ">&nbsp;</div></p>Mon, 24 Dec 2012 05:00:00 -0600http://www.wbez.org/blogs/lee-bey/2012-12/architect-oscar-niemeyers-last-work-it-just-might-be-shoes-104495